Mike Pompeo questions China's cooperation in his official visit to Costa Rica

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(CNN Spanish) - After meeting with the president of Costa Rica, the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo criticized China's cooperation and investments in the Central American country. “We work as allies of Costa Rica. This is an important contrast to the promises made by the Chinese government that only offer debt, dependence and erode sovereignty, ”said the head of US diplomacy.

Pompeo arrived in Costa Rica on Tuesday morning on an official visit that lasted just over five hours.

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After hearing about these statements, China's embassy in Costa Rica strongly rejected them. Through a statement, he recalled that "Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to establish diplomatic relations with China in the new century" and that they have been successful for both countries. The statement adds that the secretary of state, irresponsibly, made criticism without any basis and that they advise him to deal with his own affairs and stop spreading rumors.

China is the second trading partner of Costa Rica after the US According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, between 2009 and 2018, trade between the two nations grew, on average, at an annual rate of 14.9%.

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As a curious fact, Beijing financed the construction of the National Stadium of Costa Rica, opened in San José in 2011, at no cost to the public finances of the Central American country.